White Europeans Training in Pakistan Terrorist Camps

Islamic terrorists are recruiting a new, hard-to-detect weapon in their war against the West.

June 25, 2008

A new breed of al Qaeda terrorist could already be on the loose. He is much harder to detect and crosses borders with impunity. Dozens of white European converts to Islam have been trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan’s tribal regions over the past few months, according to U.S. intelligence sources cited by abc News.

“They’re recruiting operatives from Europe. Why? If you’re from Europe, it doesn’t require a visa to fly to the United States,” said Mike McConnell, the director of National Intelligence, in a speech in March. “So if you can get a disgruntled person in Europe to come to Pakistan to be trained in how to buy something commercially—hydrogen peroxide—[and] use it in a particular way, you could have mass casualties in the United States [or Europe] greater than 9/11.”

According to a threat assessment report published by the office of the director of National Intelligence, Western recruits have been arriving in Pakistan since mid-2006.

There is evidence that some of these terrorists have already gone operational. Two native Germans were suspects arrested in a September 2007 plot to murder American soldiers in Germany. U.S. officials are investigating whether they were trained in Pakistan.

An April Europol report also noted that an increasing number of Europeans traveled to Pakistan for training and “were later involved in, or suspected of, terrorist offenses in the EU.” cia Director Michael Hayden, in a speech in April, said the recruits “wouldn’t cause you any concern or draw your attention if they were in the passport line at Dulles with you. I mean, they look Western and they fit in. So that’s one, the continued intent to attack, training to attack, using Western operatives.”

Because of this, al Qaeda is actively seeking recruits of non-Middle Eastern origin.

The United States has the power to defeat radical Islam, but it lacks the will. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, possesses both the willpower and the resources to inflict tremendous damage. Along with a strong will, recruiting and training white Europeans gives al Qaeda a great advantage in its war against the West. To learn more about the central reason America will not win its fight against radical Islam, read “Why We Cannot Win the War Against Terrorism.”